Korean Tanks Rolling Into Global Market
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
Hyundai Rotem Set to Produce K2s, Upgrade K1A1s
For those countries hoping to deploy state-of-the-art "luxury" battle tanks but wary of high prices, Hyundai Rotem, a South Korean rolling stock and defense manufacturer, is the bearer of good news ― an upgrade of the K1A1 tank.
The upgrades will focus on equipping the tank with the C4I (command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence) network-centric battlefield management systems already applied to the indigenous K2 Black Panther new main battle tank, Park Ju-Hee, a general manager of Rotem's Defense System., told The Korea Times.
The digital command-and-control system allows the vehicle to share its data with friendly units, including other armored vehicles and helicopters, on a real-time basis, he said.
Park Kyung-deuk at the firm's overseas export bureau said, "The envisaged K1A1 upgrades will attract much attention from those nations that want to have up-to-date digital battle tanks but have difficulties doing so due to budgetary restraints.
The upgraded version will perform better than the exiting K1A1 but lower than the K2, he said, adding, "That is, customers will have another option to buy a network-centric advanced tank with economical price."
"Such a lineup of South Korean tanks, in accordance with requirements, is expected to help boost the K-series tanks' exports to a great extent," the official noted.
A few Southeast Asian and South American nations have already shown keen interest in the new variant of the K1A1, Park said.
Works to improve the performance of the K1A1, a modified variant of the K1 tank, will start after the production of the K1A1 for the South Korean Army is completed soon, he said.
"When the K1A1 tanks' depot maintenance begins, upgrade works will be implemented in connection with maintenance," said Park. "Once the new K1A1 derivatives are deployed in the field, the Army's combat power will increase significantly through joint operations with the K2."
Other improvements will include an identification friend or foe (IFF) system that fires a Ka band beam for a response from the target. If a proper response signal is shown by the target, the fire control system automatically identifies it as friendly. Otherwise, it is declared as hostile.
An air conditioning system was not included in the original upgrade requirements, but Hyundai Rotem, for its part, is investing money to develop an air conditioning system for the K1A1, Park Ju-hee noted, with hopes nations in hot regions will buy the vehicle.
The firm hopes that a recent opening of an inter-agency center to help facilitate defense sales overseas could help the export of K1A1 tanks in the coming years.
Member agencies of the center are the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, the Ministry of National Defense, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA).
The company was created in July 1999 in the merger of the railcar divisions of Daewoo Heavy Industries & Construction and Hyundai Mobis, the rail systems manufacturer widely known as Rotem.
In 2001, the merged company became an affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group after Hyundai took over Daewoo's share.
Before the deal, Hyundai Group's defense manufacturing was handled by another subsidiary, Hyundai Precision, established in 1964.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/na ... 53819.html
El Leopard 2 A4 o 5 sería mi preferido de localizar algunos disponibles, ya que hay otro usuario en Sudamérica y podrían realizar acuerdos de mantenimiento con Chile que abaratasen costes, sin embargo creo que no quedan stocks en buen estado.